106 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Carriage of Schizomycetes through the Air.*— C. v. Nageli and 

 H. Buchner have determined that bacteria and similar organisms are 

 not taken up into the air simply by evaporation of the fluids in which 

 they live, nor are they detached from a solid substratum by currents 

 of dry air only. In order for the germs to be dispersed through the 

 air, they must first be scattered by drops of water, and are then taken 

 up by currents of air. This view is of importance in connection with 

 the spread of malarial fevers. 



Transition between Forms of Schizomycetes.t — C. v. Nageli is 

 of opinion that all known forms of Schizomycetes are connected by 

 intermediate links, and that any division into species, however con- 

 venient for the purpose of description, has no scientific value. There 

 is no doubt that the same species occurs in widely different forms 

 dependent on the mode in which it obtains its nourishment. 



Fatty Bodies as Generators of Bacteria.^ — T. Brisson de 

 Lenharee points out that fatty substances on mineral bodies or used 

 in the hair, such as oil, pomade, glycerin, &c., attract the numerous 

 minute germs, especially those of parasitic fungi, which abound in the 

 air ; glycerin, however, is not so deleterious in this way as the other 

 substances named. Hence a very common source of baldness. 

 Buildin« and funereal stones which had been soaked in oil in order to 

 protect inscriptions on them from the influence of the weather were 

 found to have been much attacked by minute fungi from the very 

 means used to protect them. 



Phosphorescence caused by Bacteria.§ — N. Patouillard describes 

 a specimen of Agaricus acerhus Fr. from the Pyrenees which was 

 strongly phosphorescent. A microscopic examination showed that 

 the phenomenon was due to innumerable bacteria allied to Bacterium 

 catenida Eh., mobile and colourless, composed of a variable number 

 of cylindrical rods placed end to end, forming a straight or curved 

 chain. They were accompanied by a great number of another 

 organism allied to Saccharomyces, consisting of a hyaline refringent 

 globule, often with a brilliant point in its centre, which increased by 

 gemmation after the ordinary manner of a torula. Both of these 

 organisms were found at a considerable depth in the tissue, as well as 

 near the surface. 



The phos])horescence of fungi is therefore due to two causes : 

 first to the action of oxygen on the tissue of the fungus itself, as in 

 the case of Agaricus olearius, rhizomorpha, and exotic luminous 

 species; secondly, to the accidental presence of parasitic luminous 

 organisms. 



Inoculation of Tuberculosis through Respiration.]] — In order to 

 ascertain whether the germs of tuberculosis, if present in the air, can 



* Med. Centralbl., xx. (1882) p. 513. See Naturforscher, xv. (1882) p. 364. 



t Unters. uber niedere Pilze aus dem pflanzenpliysiol. Instituts Miinchen, i. 

 (1882) pp. 129-39. 



X Actes du Congres de la Rochelle, Sect. Bot., 1882. See Eev. Mycol., iv. 

 (1882) p. 249. 



§ Rev. Mycol., iv. (1882) pp. 208-9 (1 pi). 



II Comptes Rendus, xciv. (1882) p. 1391. 



